1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to the field of automatic report generating systems and, more particularly, to the automatic generation of a written report and visuals based on engineering data of the type produced by CAD (computer aided design) and CAE (computer aided engineering) software.
2. Description of the Background
Preparing, writing, and publishing reports based on engineering information is a tedious and time-consuming process, usually requiring weeks if not months of engineering time. That problem is particularly acute in the design and analysis of mechanical parts and civil structures where repetitive design and analysis cycles are commonplace.
Typically, the kinds of reports that are available from CAD and CAE programs are based on log files. A log file is a trail of the actions of the software. A report based on a log file provides basic information about what the software did and when. Such a report, however, provides no analysis of the engineering data generated by the program and provides no mechanism for the formatting or delivery of the content.
To produce a report which analyzes the generated engineering data and presents it in a manner that will be understandable to a general audience is a time consuming task. The generated engineering data may be in the form of drawings, numbers, lists, and contour plots, to name a few types of data. To produce an engineering report, the user of the software must author a unique interpretation of the data and compose the report in a separate software system. Lacking a native link between the engineering data and the engineering report, information must be transposed manually. Furthermore, only users with access to and knowledge of the CAD or CAE software can directly collaborate on the design. Thus, the need exists for a report generating system which automatically performs an analysis of engineering data and generates a report that presents that data, and conclusions drawn therefrom, in a manner meaningful to a broad audience and in a form suitable for immediate use and distribution with minimal manual modification or intervention.